Summer 2009!

If I'm going to summarize the summer of 2009 with one word, it will be RAIN! I know that sounds depressing but throughout the month of July we had two days when it didn't rain ... maybe half a day more ... I'm not very fond of extreme heat, I do admit that, but this actually felt ridiculous!!

This entry will be a brief summary of what's been going on this summer, as I will make separate entries for most of it.
I didn't go up to the summerhouse until midsummer, things were quite chaotic at home, and I wasn't feeling very well. It felt really nice seeing my families again, but of course I felt sorry for my oldest sister, M, who broke her arm about 10 days before I came ... she had a huge cast, reaching from her shoulder to her finger joints ... poor thing! We celebrated midsummer together, and then I got a few days for myself before it was time for LONDON with Annika!

Naturally it was a great trip, but still with mixed feelings - I have a loooooong London entry prepared, which will appear here in a while! :)
As soon as we got back from London my Dad and his family went to Riga on vacation, and after that, my oldest sister had her 5th birthday! Summer sure passes quickly at times.

After that things started going more slowly, I think. We didn't do much except the usual stuff, we did some paint jobs, my Dad and his family redecorated one of their bathrooms - one day we took a joy ride to an aqueduct near the summerhouse, the kids love to watch the boats, and that was a really nice outing! :)





Toward the end of the summer, we prepared to redecorate the summerhouse bathroom, we have had some minor incidents there, so we needed to redo all of it - and had to prepare as much as possible, which meant tearing down the wallpaper and carpet, deal with some minor plumming to get the toilet and stuff out - so that was quite intense!!

We went together here, drove during the night - which was not so pleasant actually - and mostly took it easy! We went swimming with the girls in the ocean, which they loved, did some little outings, and they left on Saturday morning!

I have had a difficult time trying to get back to my own life since they left, due to some personal issues (which I'd rather not discuss here, but which may come up in my personal blog) - but I'm hoping to start feeling better soon!

Please keep an eye out for further entries!

Long Overdue: My Fair Lady!

My Fair Lady – April 16, 2009

I know this entry is way way overdue, and I apologize for that. But better late than never, right? :) In April of this year, me and my Mum went to Stockholm to see My Fair Lady, and as always when it comes to musicals, it was a wonderful experience!
We had been lucky enough to get a really great hotel, very small rooms, but it was situated right next to Oscars (where My Fair Lady was playing) and it was quite cheap!
Both me and my Mum were quite excited to see this musical, I had never seen it before, even though I had some idea of the plot and songs, and it was very special to my Mum, who had seen it when she was young, in Stockholm, with Jarl Kulle!
When we entered the theatre, we instantly found a note saying that Henry Higgins and Freddy were played by their understudies!! That made me quite sad actually, as I had really been looking forward to seeing Tommy Körberg (Higgins) and Helen Sjöholm (Eliza) together. They are outstanding together, with a very special energy between them, and it felt quite disappointing not being able to see them this time!
However, it was fantastic to see the musical, as I had never seen it before, I haven’t even seen the film version of it! I did know some of it of course, but it’s never quite the same to see the entire play live!
Instead of Tommy Körberg, Christopher Wollter was playing Higgins (he usually played Freddie), I had never seen him before and I was really impressed! He had a very nice voice, and was quite a good actor, but to me, he was too young to play Higgins. I can’t help but feel there should be a noticeable age difference between Higgins and Eliza - he’s the elderly professor and she’s the young girl off the street – now you got the feeling they were basically the same age. As I said, I really liked Christopher Wollter, and I’d love to see him in something else – Marius or Enjolras in Les Misérables, Chris in Miss Saigon etc. – but he didn’t quite fit in as Henry Higgins.
I also found it difficult to adjust to the new Freddie … I’m sure Christopher Wollter normally made fantastic Freddie, but the understudy Fredrik Lexfors was not quite so good, I’m sorry to say. I’m sure with a bit more training and experience, he’ll be able to pull off the part, but when we saw him, he didn’t make a great impression.
It was absolutely fantastic to see Jan Malmsjö live, I have only seen him on TV before, so I feel really lucky he was on when we were there! He was very very good, despite his age, and quite the comedian, which I hadn’t expected!! I haven’t seen him do any comedy before, and it was nice to see he could do that as well! Also, and inside joke for all my Swedish readers: Before singing “Get me to the church on time”, Jan Malmsjö ran on stage and dramatically exclaimed: “Ring klocka, ring!” *lol*
As usual Helen Sjöholm was FANTASTIC! I don’t think she’s done a bad performance in her life, she’s really amazing!! She’s a really tiny person, and every time I see her, I’m amazed at her capacity! She as well got to do a fair bit of comedy, I hadn’t seen that before, but she was very good at it!!
Pickering, played by Michael Segerström was also quite good. I hadn’t heard of him before, but he brought a lot of comedy to the show.

I have to say – and I think my Mum agrees with me – the show had a lot more comedy than I had expected. Even though I’ve never read Pygmalion, or seen the movie, you do get a fair idea of what the musical is about, and I hadn’t pictured it as being very funny. The basic theme wasn’t comedic of course, but a lot of things had a fun twist, and there were lots of laughs from the audience.

It was a really wonderful experience to have seen My Fair Lady, but I can’t help but feel a bit sad about not getting to see Tommy Körberg. I really like his voice a lot, and together with Helen Sjöholm, it gets even better. They are an unstoppable team, and I really really would have liked to see them together! I also think Tommy Körberg would have made an excellent Higgins!
The musical will be running this fall as well, the new premiere will be some time in September … Me and Mum did have an idea of going during the fall, to try to catch Tommy and Helen together, and also be able to see Cats (my Mum has never seen it, which is a true shame, considering how much she loves cats!!), but it doesn’t seem like it will be possible now …

Home Sweet Home!

I have been home since Wednesday, but my Dad and his family took a mini vacation here, and left early yesterday morning! Goodbyes are always very difficult so yesterday was totally non-productive for me, but now it's high time to try to get back on track again - including getting this blog going again! :)

I do apologize for not posting a single entry during the summer, but the fact is I think I have had real internet access two or three times since I left, and then I felt I didn't have the time to write here properly!
Please keep coming back here regularly over the next few days, because I will try to add entries on my summer every now and again, so I can be back on track with blogging as well soon.

For now, this will be my comeback entry - so you'll know I'm here again - but I will try to post more soon!

I hope you all had a great summer!

/Jessica

Blog on Summer Vacation!

Well, I'm leaving for my summer vacation soon, so this blog will take a break as well.
Before signing off I'd like to apologize for the way this blog has been run the last month or so. Truth of the matter is, the first half of 2009 hasn't been great for me - or for my family - and the last month has been pretty horrible. I know it has shone through here, and it doesn't feel good to see that almost all my entries are negative.

I can't portray something that isn't true here, I am an honest person, and this blog does mirror how I'm really doing, but it feels bad that so many negative entries has come up here. I'm hoping that this break will do me good - I'm not much for summer vacation or holidays, I usually don't like them, but I'm hoping the break in routine will make my life work out in a better way.

I won't have regular internet access during the summer, so at best I will be able to make a scattered entry every now and again, just to let you know I'm still around, but I'm hoping to get back to regular blogging when I get back home for good again sometime in August.
I'm hoping for lots of update-entries that are a lot more positive than the previous ones! :)

I wish you all the best, I hope you have a GREAT summer, and I hope you'll still be around when I'm back to blogging regularly again! :)

Take care!!

Difficulties!!

The last month or so has been really difficult for me, I seem to be stuck in a very destructive pattern that I can't seem to get out of, no matter what I do! I know I have a lot of good things going on, I managed to finish this semester in a good way and all of that, but for some reason, I just feel awful about everything right now - so I'm guessing I'm not much fun to be around!

I really don't want to start going into it, because that will make this entry very difficult and depressing, I hope I can get my act together and start feeling a little better soon! I'd like to be able to catch up on my blogs before I leave for the summer, though I can't guarantee that!

For now, you'll have to accept these pictures from Sofiero ... I was up there with Sara, Johanna, Per and Johanna on Monday, celebrating the end of the semester! *yay!* (Photos are also on Facebook) And yes, these are the "official" ones ... I will be emailing all the photos to all of those present ... *lol*

Enjoy!
Sofiero, June 8, 2009

Stress - Stress - Stress!

I thought that with handing in my essay and actually coping with the seminars, things would slow down! Boy, was I mistaken!
I'm stressing like a maniac right now, and I'm not sure how long I can keep it up! At the moment, it looks like I'll be able to relax and wind down during the first week of July and that's it! *rolling eyes*

At the moment, Annika and I are desperately trying to work out our London plans ... which can be a bit complicated at times! I also need to get a new passport first thing tomorrow, as I discovered mine expired in January. Hopefully I get it in time, otherwise I'll have to arrange for a temporary passport.
Tomorrow afternoon I'll meet up with some great friends at Sofiero for a CELEBRATION that we are ALL finished with our educations (well, I'm "kind of" finished .... I'll never be really finished!) - YAY!!!

I also need to make the corrections in my essay, and on Tuesday morning I'll have to go to Uni and try to print it ... I've never done that there before, so I hope that will work out. I will also have to make arrange for it to be copied - the Department will need 3 copies, I want one, my parents want one (each! *lol*) ... so I'm thinking I need to make 10 copies!
That afternoon I have a meeting with my professor, and before that I'm gonna have to check up a bunch of literature for a reading course I'll be doing over the summer, so he can say what he thinks will be good ...

My appartment is currently REALLY disgusting, so I'll also have to find the time to make a real, real, real CLEANING of everything - I'm also thinking of redecorating my entire bedroom ...

At this point, I'm feeling like collapsing, but I HAVE to make this work out. Next Sunday I'm invited to a friends ordination (had to look that word up *lol*), which I'm totally looking forward to - and a few days after that, I'm leaving for the summerhouse.

Celebrating Midsummer with my families, and then Annika and I are going to London - we come back on June 29, so maybe I can get some time to catch up then ... ?

Sorry about complaining so much, I guess I had hoped I could relax after the whole ordeal with the seminars, the the weeks before that were so awful, and now I'm stressing just as much as I did then ....

I'm Back - I Think!

Okay ... so this semester is almost over now - wow, that feels weird. I hope I can make a "real" post about the whole semester at some point, because there's been a lot of mixed feelings regarding these last 4-5 months!

I have survived writing and handing in my essay, defending it before the seminar and also act as an opponent on another student's essay. Now I have to make some minor corrections and hand in an essay next week, which will be graded - and then I can actually apply for my Bachelor of Theology Degree!! That's pretty amazing!! I started University studies in August 1998 ... this feels really huge actually! :D

However, I haven't been feeling very well, especially not the last few weeks. A great deal of things has gone horribly wrong, and I'm still amazed at the fact that I managed to end the semester in the way that I did, because I had some serious doubts.
I feel really good about actually doing it, but a lot of other things have been suffering because of it. There are a lot of things that haven't been working for me personally, I managed to deeply hurt one of my greatest friends, which I feel awful about - I just hope I haven't hurt every friend I have now ...

Sorry about this, I know I should be on top of the world right now, but despite the fact that it's great and a real milestone to have done this now, there are a lot of things I don't feel so good about right now ...

Hopefully I'll get back to blogging regularly now, at least until I leave for the summerhouse (which will be a few days before Midsummer)! I have quite a few blog entries to go through, here and in my other blogs, as I've been putting most of my life on hold lately.

Take care!

Yep - Again!

Oh my, another Sunday ... this is starting to feel ridiculous!
I really want to get my act together and start blogging again ... however, I'm not sure when that will be. Things are quite complicated right now, and as usual, there's a BIG stress factor at the end of the semester!
I'm currently studying with my essay (the one required to get a Bachelor's Degree), I have a meeting with my professor tomorrow, and the whole thing has to be handed in on Friday! *gulp*
I also have some engagements with the course where I'm mentor, and that's turned into a bit more than expected ... and I also found out some not-so-great stuff regarding the practical matters surrounding the essay!

Pretty much everything is rather messy right now, and for me to be able to blog properly, I'd have to give you all a run-down, and I don't have either the time nor the energy to do that.
*fingers crossed* this blog will be back and up and running again when most of this semester has calmed down!

Take care!

Weekly Entries?!

Seems like I'm only making one entry a week here now ...
I'm sorry I'm not blogging more right now, because I've always enjoyed this blog, and I have been grateful for the response it has gotten ... however, when things are as hectic and complicated and confusing as they are right now ... I don't feel up to writing about it!
I'm not sure how much of all of this I want to keep a bit more private, and how much I'm comfortable in writing, and I'm basically feeling stressed out constantly now - so the blog has been put aside.

I'm having a rather stressful time now, for the rest of the semester - I'll have my last seminar on June 5th ... but if things start "working out" (and they might, Friday was a pretty good day at Uni), I'm hoping I'll be able to get back to more regular blogging ... guess we'll just have to wait and see! :)

At Last!

I apologize for neglecting this blog right now.
I have to admit, I'm not feeling the best, and when I don't, I can't see the point to update this blog. One thing is if there's an explicit reason for not feeling well, and when you gain something from sharing that, or having a constructive discussion about it - but that is NOT the case right now! I don't even write in my own personal diary much now, and that's something I can usually be helped a lot by!

I think I'm mostly feeling bad because the whole thing with the essays are REALLY confusing me right now, and when I'm confused I can't stay focused, and when I can't stay focused, I don't do anything, and when I don't do anything, I feel stressed out and awful!
(short summary, I know!)

Anyway ... there's always hope I guess, and I'm hoping to get something done today! I have a meeting with my professor tomorrow and hopefully at least some things will become clearer after that ... *fingers crossed*

I did learn yesterday that there is one thing that can actually snap me out of my bad, destructive moods: going for walks! I have never liked it before, but I really do now!! Bringing the camera and taking your time, that is a great way of clearing your mind. You can think about the difficult things if you like, but you don't have to if you don't want to. I'm "rediscovering" my home town in a new way now, and the more I walk, the more I realize there are other places in town I want to explore! Granted, it's not a very big town, but I still haven't covered all of it yet! :)

I didn't take that many pictures yesterday, but the walk did me good anyway! I took a walk in what in these parts constitute "woods" (though not in any other part of the world, I think!), it's a very small area, but covered with trees and it's really beautiful! They have a little "farm" there, with a few animals, ducks, geese, cows etc - families often come there with their kids. I went past there yesterday and encountered the cutest little geese baby ... he kept following me around on his side of the fence! *adorable!*

You can check out the few pictures here:
Out for a Walk, May 9, 2009

(Also, my personal blog has been updated!)